Posts from August 2018

The summer has flown by and we’ve made progress towards our search for a lead pastor of Origins. There are two candidates that have met the staff, elders and search committee and are still being considered for the position. In addition, there are new resumes being reviewed for potential candidates. As we continue to work through this process, we are filled with hope and…

Why should I join a group? The truth of the matter is, the Bible doesn’t talk about community groups. The early church didn’t have a program. They didn’t do sign-ups. They were just too excited to explore this thing called faith that they couldn’t help but to be around each other. That’s why we do groups. With all the distractions,…

You were gifted to give. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” We have all been gifted with something. Some people are more affluent, some people can work a room, others have a heart to serve, and still others are gifted speakers. Yet, we’re all called to come together as the church and work together.…

Inviting people in creates real unity. “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” I think we confuse proximity for closeness. We have people around us all the time. People we work around, people we talk to over text, people we share homes and neighborhoods with and people we share a drink or a Friday night with. However, while we’re in proximity to these…

Community Requires Forgiveness and Grace “Since love covers a multitude of sin” When you get people from different backgrounds, different races, different cultures, and different places of faith together there is going to be friction. You have to know this up front. You should expect friction. But, that isn’t always a bad thing. A lot of the time we know our…

Love Recognizes Others “Above all keep loving one another earnestly” Love is an easy thing to fake for a little while. You say the right thing, you do the kind acts, and pretend. But if it isn’t real it’s not long before it starts to show. Your actions don’t show it. Your words stop showing it. You start banking on previous deeds instead of…

Love God with a mouth that speaks the truth in love. We need to be very careful about this because speaking the truth must always be accompanied with love. We need to remember that every testimony is only as powerful as the actions preceding and following it. Giving a hungry man the gospel and not bread is empty. And on the same note, giving him bread but not the…

Love God with feet that carry his word Blessed are the feet which bring good news. You want to see God truly bless your life? Give it entirely over to taking the good news to those in need. Lets your steps be for the sake of sharing the gospel. It’s easy to decide where you want to go, even why you want to go. It’s an entirely different thing to allow…

Love him with ears that hear. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to listen. Yet we’re called to be great listeners. We’re called to listen to God’s voice, we’re called to listen to our brothers and sisters, we’re called to listen to the Spirit inside of us. We have to be listeners. It’s the prideful ones that never listen. They think they’ve got it…

Love him with attentive eyes. When we love him with all our strength, we put the effort into being focused on what he is doing in our lives. We look for his hand at work. We seek out chances to be a part of his kingdom. We are attentive to the moments that he wants us to act in so that we can show the grace, love, mercy, and truth of the gospel. Sometimes this is…

Love him with hands that work. It’s easy to get the right words, say the right things, stand at the right time, move at the right time, and look the part. It’s an entirely different thing though to love God with your strength and mean it. When we love God with our strength it means we get to work. We put our hands to the things he cares about. It means…

This takes a lifetime. None of us are perfect. Everyone struggles with letting God renew our minds and guide us in our choices. It seems like when we focus on one area and surrender it, these wretched hearts have a way of finding other things to corrupt and the renewal of our minds continues as we find more and more that we have to grow in. Just because…